Bitcoin Plunges to a 6 Week low Below the $10,000 mark in a Major Market Correction

Correction doesn't necessarily come as a surprise

There is no denying that the past few weeks in the crypto space have seen a lot of market volatility and turbulence. Bitcoin in particular, being the leading cryptocurrency with a market capital of $175 billion and a price of $10,174.20 as of January 17th 2018 according to CoinMarketCap, has seen a drastic fall in price from an all-time high of close to $20,000 per coin just a month ago.

Although most markets on CoinmarketCap record a Bitcoin price that averages to $10,174 per BTC, there are a number of exchanges including YoBit, Bitrex and Binance that have recorded an average price as low as $9,663 (Bitfinex), $9925 (Bittrex) and $9,588( Mr.Exchange) over the past 24 hours.

Furthermore, the overall market capitalization of Bitcoin has seen its previous value reduced almost by half, to a low of $170 billion today. The overall cryptocurrency market capitalization has not been spared from the bloodbath either, as its value dipped below the $500 billion mark for the first time in a while.

It’s not Just Bitcoin

Yes that’s right, it’s equally been a red zone in the wider cryptocurrency market as the top 100 cryptocurrencies struggle to fight the dip. For example, popular tokens such as NEM and Ripple have also dropped in price by over 32 and 25 percent respectively.

What’s Causing the Major Correction?

The major correction that recent investors are facing is not entirely without reason. The past few days have seen South Korea and China issue stricter stances on cryptocurrency exchanges in both countries. There are reports of China’s plan to block individuals from getting access to foreign exchanges while South Korea is laying down harsher regulations to curb investors in cryptocurrencies.

Although the South Korean President cooled fears of a total ban on the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges, South Korea’s military soldiers are reportedly prohibited from accessing cryptocurrency exchanges while on the grounds of the military base.

Could these events be the source of the downturn within the global cryptocurrency market? Well according to a Twitter post by Erik Voothees (CEO of ShapeShift), “There is not necessarily a ‘reason’.”

He explains that new investors in the cryptocurrency market are experiencing a market correction. However, the bigger question is how the recent investors in the crypto space will react, especially after such a dip in price.